Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center / HOK

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TRANSPORTATION

•ORANGE COUNTY, UNITED STATES

• Architects: HOK
• Year: 2014
• Photographs: John Linden
• Manufacturers: Terrazzo & Marble, Hahn Lamellenfenster, Hess Lighting, Insight, Tecno Spa, Vector Foiltec

Products used in this Project

• LINOLEUM / VINYL / EPOXY / URETHANE

  

  Terrazzo & Marble

  Terrazzo Flooring – Terroxy Resin Systems

Text description provided by the architects. Los Angeles — The new Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) sets a precedent for civic-minded transit hubs in the United States. HOK designed ARTIC, which represents the next generation of public transportation in Southern California, as an innovative new transit station that serves as a destination in itself.

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© John Linden

“ARTIC is a community-focused building that will change how people think about public transportation,” said Ernest Cirangle, FAIA, LEED AP, design principal for HOK’s Los Angeles office. “This iconic facility is a symbol of a new era of public transit and was only made possible because of city leaders’ unwavering commitment to a contemporary and bold design.”

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First Floor Plan with context

Projected to serve the transportation needs of more than three million people annually in the coming years, the 67,000-sq.-ft. transit hub links commuter and regional rail service and intercity bus systems including Amtrak, Metrolink, OCTA bus service, Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART), Megabus.com and Greyhound. ARTIC’s flexible design ensures that it can serve as a southern terminus for California’s future high-speed rail system. In addition to accommodating passenger arrivals, departures and transfers, ARTIC integrates amenities such as transit-oriented retail, Wi-Fi and charging stations, parking, bike racks, lockers, community space and specialty dining.

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© John Linden

HOK won an international competition to design the project. Officials challenged the team to create an icon that would welcome a new age of public transportation into the region. The station also was conceived as a catalyst for transforming Anaheim’s core into a pedestrian-friendly zone that promotes connectivity and a vibrant, mixed-use environment. Known as the “Platinum Triangle,” the area around the station includes destinations such as Angel Stadium, the Honda Center, the HOK-designed Anaheim Convention Center and nearby Disneyland.

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© John Linden

“The master plan establishes a clear pedestrian pathway flanked by future, mixed-use development with ARTIC as the primary destination,” said Cirangle. “The extroverted building has a significant but welcoming presence and will help spur transit-oriented development.”

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© John Linden

Drawing inspiration from classic grand transit halls including Grand Central Terminal in New York, along with the structural elegance of local airship hangars, the team developed a 21^st-century design concept for the forward-looking transit facility. The design achieves ARTIC’s signature parabolic form by employing a diagrid structural system of diamond-shaped steel arches infilled with translucent ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) pillows. At the north and south ends, freestanding curtain walls bring in daylight and open the building to views. The long-span, grid shell structure creates a grand, light-filled atrium space that accommodates open circulation.

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North Elevation

The design team used building information modeling (BIM) to develop ARTIC’s complex form, geometry and functions, to navigate the complexities of the building systems, and to study the building’s tolerances and environmental performance. “By using BIM, we were able to optimize and coordinate the precise geometry of the vaulted diagrid shell, ETFE facade technology, metal panel rain screen systems and glass,” said Albert Kaneshiro, AIA, LEED AP, HOK’s project manager. “BIM allowed us to match ETFE connections with the geometry of the steel in a structure that is constantly expanding and contracting.”

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© John Linden

Based on the city’s goals for sustainability, the team designed ARTIC for U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum certification. The vault-shaped structure acts in concert with advanced mechanical systems to optimize energy efficiency. Inflated ETFE cushions cast a soft, translucent light throughout the great hall, while the additional frit pattern on the outer layer reduces solar heat gain. Convection currents naturally ventilate the building as heat rises from the lower south end up to the north side and out through operable louvers. The radiant heating and cooling floor system and optimized HVAC system will help reduce ARTIC’s energy consumption by 50 percent.

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© John Linden

LEDs mounted on the diagrid structure illuminate the ETFE pillows in gradations of shifting colors, providing a striking presence on the night skyline. As darkness falls, ARTIC becomes lit from within and acts as a beacon from the freeways and local streets.

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West Elevation

HOK provided architecture, interior design, master planning and urban design services. Parsons Brinckerhoff was the project manager and served as the rail and civil engineer. Other consultants include Thornton Tomasetti as structural engineer, Buro Happold as MEP and enclosure engineering, SWA as landscape designer, and Clark Construction as general contractor.

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© John Linden

HOK’s Aviation + Transportation group designs high-performance passenger terminals, stations, intermodal facilities, automatic people mover systems, light rail systems and other transportation amenities. Recent A+T projects include the Hamad International Airport Passenger Terminal Complex in Doha, Qatar; the Salt Lake City International Airport Terminal Redevelopment Program; the Union Station Master Plan in Washington, DC; Indianapolis International Airport Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal; and the PHX Sky Train® at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Material of the Future: 4 Architects that Experiment with Cross Laminated Timber

Gilles Retsin and Stephan Markus Albrecht’s Nuremberg Concert Hall proposal takes advantage of the project’s location in the Bavaria region a Germany, an area known for its abundance of timber. Image© Filippo Bolognese

• Written by Shane Reiner-Roth

This article was originally published on The Architect’s Newspaper as “Architects apply the latest in fabrication, design, and visualization to age-old timber.”

Every so often, the field of architecture is presented with what is hailed as the next “miracle building material.” Concrete enabled the expansion of the Roman Empire, steel densified cities to previously unthinkable heights, and plastic reconstituted the architectural interior and the building economy along with it.

But it would be reasonable to question why and how, in the 21st century, timber was accorded a miracle status on the tail-end of a timeline several millennia-long. Though its rough-hewn surface and the puzzle-like assembly it engenders might seem antithetical to the current global demand for exponential building development, it is timber’s durability, renewability, and capacity for sequestering carbon—rather than release it—that inspires the building industry to heavily invest in its future.

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Cross-laminated timber (CLT), a highly resilient form of engineered wood made by gluing layers of solid-sawn lumber together, was first developed in Europe in the early 1990s, yet the product was not commonly used until the 2000s and was only introduced into the International Building Code in 2015. While mid-to-large range firms around the world have been in competition to build the largest or the tallest timber structures to demonstrate its comparability to concrete and steel, a number of independent practitioners have been applying the latest methods of fabrication, computational design techniques, and visualization software to the primordial material. Here, AN exhibits a cross-section of the experimental work currently being pursued with the belief that timber can be for the future what concrete, steel, and plastic have been in the past.

AnnaLisa Meyboom

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The Wander Wood Pavilion was fabricated and assembled over three days to demonstrate the wide range of forms and applications timber can have when applied to robotic fabrication methods. Courtesy of David Correa

In the Fall of 2018, 15 of professor AnnaLisa Meyboom’s students at the University of British Columbia (UBC), along with David Correa at University of Waterloo, Oliver David Krieg of Intelligent City, and 22 industry participants designed and constructed the third annual Wander Wood Pavilion, a twisting, latticed timber structure made up entirely of non-identical components.

By taking advantage of the advanced fabrication resources available at the UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing, including a CNC mill and a multi-axis industrial robot, the project was both a learning opportunity for its design team and a demonstration to a broader public that timber is a more than viable material to which contemporary fabrication technologies can be applied. The pavilion forms a bench on one end that’s large enough for two people, a public invitation test the structure’s strength and durability for themselves.

While the pavilion only required three days to fabricate and assemble on-site, a significant amount of time and energy was spent ensuring its quick assembly when the time came. A rigorous design workflow was established that balanced an iterative design process with rapid geometric output that accounted for logical assembly sequencing. Every piece of the pavilion was then milled to interlock into place and be further secured by metal rivets.

The project was devised in part to teach students one strategy for narrowing the gap between digital design and physical fabrication while applying a novel material. In this vein, a standard industrial robot was used throughout the fabrication process that was then “set up with an integrator specifically to work on wood,” according to Meyboom.

Gilles Retsin

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Gilles Retsin and Stephan Markus Albrecht’s design for Nuremberg Concert Hall expresses the lightness of timber using 30-foot overhead CLT modules visible from the exterior.. Image© Filippo Bolognese

While Gilles Retsin, the London-based architect and professor at the Bartlett School of Architecture, has long experimented with both computational design and novel methods of fabrication, a recent focus on timber has propelled his practice into a bold new direction. A giant wooden structure installed at London’s Royal Academy in early 2019, for instance, was the architect’s first attempt at applying augmented reality to modular timber construction through the use of Microsoft’s Hololens. “We used AR to send instructions directly from the digital model to the team working on-site,” Retsin explained. “AR, therefore, helps us understand what a fully-automated construction process would look like, where a digital model communicates directly with people and robots on site.”

In a recent international competition set in Nuremberg, Germany, Retsin set his sights on a much larger scale for what would have been the world’s first robotically prefabricated timber concert hall. Designed in collaboration with architect Stephan Markus Albrecht, engineering consultancy Bollinger-Grohmann, and climate engineers Transsolar and acoustic specialists Theatre Projects, the proposal takes advantage of the site’s location in a region with an abundance of timber while envisioning the material’s application to a uniquely challenging building type. The building’s form exhibits the material’s lightness using 30-foot sawtooth CLT prefabricated modules over the main lobby spaces, which are exposed from the exterior thanks to a seamless glass envelope.

“Designing in timber not only means a more sustainable future, but also has architects profoundly redesigning buildings from the ground up,” said Retsin. “It’s a challenging creative task, we’re really questioning the fundamental parts, the building blocks of architecture again.”

Casey Rehm

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A worm’s eye view of NN_House 1 reveals the back and forth between 3D neural network design and the limits of timber construction. Courtesy of Casey Rehm

For SCI-Arc professor Casey Rehm, working with timber has meant challenging many issues in the field of architecture at once. Timber is a rarely-considered building material in Los Angeles given the high time and material costs associated with its transportation and manufacturing. “Right now,” Rehm said, “the industry is manually laying up two-by-sixes into industrial presses, pressing them into panels, and then manually cutting window openings.” But if timber waste itself was adopted as a building material, he argued, the material could be far more globally cost-efficient.

While timber has been used in the construction of increasingly large structures around the world, such as multistory housing developments and office buildings, Rehm believes the material can be reasonably adapted to a smaller scale for quick deployment. In this vein, Rehm has been researching strategies with his students for producing inexpensive CLT panels for the construction of homeless housing and accessory dwelling units in Los Angeles, a city with a, particularly conspicuous housing shortage.

But aside from its potential as a cost and material-efficient material, the architect has applied timber to even his most exploratory design work. NN_House 1, a sprawling single-floor home Rehm proposed in 2018 for the desert plains of Joshua Tree, California, was designed in part using a 3D neural network to develop ambiguous divisions between rooms, as well as to blur the divide between interior and exterior. The AI was trained on the work of modernist architects—while producing idiosyncrasies of its own—to develop a living space with multiple spatial readings.

Kivi Sotamaa

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The design of the Meteorite allowed for both a monolithic exterior and an intimate interior and room for secondary spaces for installation and storage. Courtesy of Kivi Sotamaa

As an architect practicing in Finland, Kivi Sotamaa is certainly not unique in his community for his admiration of the far-reaching possibilities of timber construction. He is, however, producing novel research into its application at a domestic scale to reimagine how wood can be used as a primary material for home construction.

The Meteorite, a three-story home the architect has designed near Helsinki constructed entirely of locally-grown CLT, was designed using an organizational strategy the architect has nicknamed ‘the misfit.’ This system, as Sotamaa defines it, creates two distinct formal systems to generate room-sized interstitial spaces that simultaneously act as insulation, storage space, and housing for the building’s technical systems. “Aesthetically,” Sotamaa elaborated, “the misfit strategy allows for the creation of a large scale monolithic form on the outside, which addresses the scale of the forest, and an intricate human-scale spatial arrangement on the interior.” Altogether, the architect estimates, the home’s CLT slabs have sequestered 59,488 kilograms, or roughly 65 tons, of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The Meteorite was developed and introduced to the client using virtual reality, and Sotamaa hopes to apply other visualization technologies to the design and production of timber architecture, including augmented reality that could allow builders to view assembly instructions in real-time on site. “When the pieces are in order on-site and [with clear] instructions,” Sotamaa explained, “the assembly of the three-dimensional puzzle can happen swiftly and efficiently, saving energy and resources when compared with conventional construction processes.”

Modular Skylights – Northlight 40-90° | VELUX

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• Use

  Primarily for installations that are directed towards the northern hemisphere for soft and reflected lighting.

• Applications

  Ideal for galleries and museums as well as schools, offices and industrial facilities, where direct glare is unwanted.

• Characteristics

  Galvanized steel bracket system and prefabricated modular flashing with integrated insulation that ensures a 100% waterproof installation. The design permits installations up to 90° pitch, using fixed as well as venting skylights.

Supplementary Files

VELUX_Modular_Skylights_Brochure

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pdf

More about this product

VELUX Modular Skylights has been developed in close cooperation with the renowned architects from Foster + Partners. Together we have created an intelligent design that meets all international standards and requirements for commercial buildings.

Similar to Longlights, Northlights are strips of VELUX Modular Skylights. The characteristic upright design is primarily for installations that are directed towards the northern hemisphere for soft and reflected lighting. The galvanized steel bracket system for fastening the module consists of two identical brackets and clamps in top and bottom, ensuring a precise and easy installation. The prefabricated modular flashing comes with integrated insulation and ensures a 100% waterproof installation and seamless integration between roof material and skylights.

Northlight installations are applicable for pitches from 40° to 90°

USES AND APPLICATIONS

Northlights are ideal for galleries and museums as well as schools, offices and industrial facilities, where drect glare is unwanted.

Case Study
VELUX Modular Skylights helped to rejuvenate a classic 1960s vocational school: Sågbäcksgymnasiet

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

VELUX Modular Skylights are based on three key advantages:

VELUX Modularity
VELUX Modularity sums up the benefits of having a complete product system with 100% prefabricated components, one single module design and an innovative installation principle that ensures fast and easy installation.

Intelligent Designs
Intelligent design equals fully integrated product features and all the benefits of working closely together with the renowned architects, Foster + Partners.

Innovative Material Performance

Material performance is all about maximising the strength, stability and positive insulation properties of the entire installation by employing a composite, which is specifically designed to do the job.

SPECIFICATIONS

Mounting bracket

The galvanized steel bracket system for fastening the module consists of two identical brackets and clamps in top and bottom, ensuring a precise and easy installation.

Up to 90° pitch
The design permits installations up to 90° pitch, using fixed as well as venting skylights.

Flashing
The prefabricated modular flashing comes with integrated insulation. The flashing ensures a 100% waterproof installation and seamless integration between roof material and skylights.

For further technical information you can access the following links:
– Technical Drawings
– Installation Guides
– Specifications Sheets

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For more information about VELUX Northlight 40-90° Modular Skylight, visit VELUX’s page in Materials or go to www.modularskylights.velux.com.

Window Type

Mechanical

Types of Glass

Insulating Glass

Properties

Energy Efficiency, Anti-Corrosion

MELAMINE OFFICE UNIT / 3-DRAWER / ON CASTERS / KEY TYPE SISTEMA 28

Characteristics

• Material:

  melamine

• Opening system:

  3-drawer

• Specifications:

  on casters, key type

Description

Versatile and intelligent. System 28 beautifully blends technology, ergonomics and aesthetics. Power and data cables are easily accessible and manageable, thanks to the roomy cable run with double flap access and push-pull opening system.

View the catalogGo to the Fantoni website for more information

Free form structures for wood projects | Blumer Lehmann

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• Use

  Bearing structures, architectural structures, enveloping structures, commercial and public buildings, residential and educational buildings.

• Applications

  Beams, pillars, columns, timber trusses, ceilings, facades.

• Characteristics

  High-level engineering.

More about this product

Complex structures and buildings are not only possible, we make them real. Our Free forms department develops, engineers, manufactures and installs fascinating supporting and enveloping wood structures in stunning projects all over the world. Cellular supporting structures and the uniqueness of each component make free form structures exceptional.

Dedicated planning and project management

Blumer-Lehmann AG is a well-known expert, thanks to our qualified employees, our flexible design tools and our own CNC production which allow us to deliver highest quality on time and budget. Our specialists attend you through all stages of the project: from technical development to construction, service and maintenance. Dedicated project management coordinates every step such as development of geometry, structural engineering, production, logistics, site facilities, installation and follow-up works.

We even make the most eccentric visions come to life. Blumer-Lehmann AG is your strong partner for consulting services, engineering, production, logistics and installation and project management – all out of one hand, worldwide.

Impressions – Insights and outlooks

Check out one of Blumer Lehmann’s projects here: Norman Foster’s Manchester Maggie’s Centre Breaks Ground

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For more information about Blumer Lehmann projects contact through our contact/quote button on top, visit Blumer Lehmann’s page in Materials, or visit: www.blumer-lehmann.ch/en/freeforms

CableRail Kits for Metal or Wood Railings | Feeney

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• Use

  Railing frame system

• Applications

  Commercial and residential

• Characteristics

  Easy-to-install railing infill alternative for metal and wood railings. Made from high-strength, low-maintenance, weather-tough, 316-grade stainless steel. Available in 1/8″, 3/16″, and 1/4″ diameter cable to complement any railing design.

Supplementary Files

CableRail_Install_Wood_Metal

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CableRail_Install_Wood_Metal__1_

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More about this product

Feeney CableRail Kits are sold in a wide range of standardized pre-cut lengths for easy ordering. There is no wasted time taking precise railing measurements; just select kits that are longer than you need and trim any excess in the field. Each kit includes special Threaded Terminal and automatic-locking Quick-Connect®SS attachment fittings that are sleek, simple to use, and easy to conceal. The result is not only extremely durable and aesthetic but virtually invisible, allowing beautiful, unimpaired views.

• Made from high-strength, low-maintenance, weather-tough, 316-grade stainless steel
• Available in 1/8″, 3/16″, and 1/4″ diameter cable to complement any railing design
• Sold in a wide range of standard lengths (5 ft to 70 ft in 5-ft increments) that can be trimmed to a finished dimension in the field
• Patented automatic-locking Quick-Connect® Inset fitting makes installation fast and easy
• May be installed on new or existing wood or metal railing frames in exterior, interior, residential, and commercial settings
• Complete installation instructions, frame requirements, 3-part specifications, and detail drawings available.
• Product contains recycled materials

CableRail kits for Wood Railings (level or stair)

CableRail® Kits by Feeney, Inc.® are an attractive, affordable, and easy-to-install railing infill alternative for wood railings. The cable and components are low maintenance and visually unobtrusive; perfect for decks with beautiful landscape settings or panoramic views, as well as open interior spaces.

The included Quick-Connect® Inset fitting features patented one-way jaws that allow the cable to easily slide though in one direction, but automatically grab and lock on when the cable is released. Just slip it on, pull the cable taut and cut off the excess; no special tools are needed. This fitting not only makes installation a breeze, but also offers exceptional beauty, strength, and corrosion resistance.

CableRail Kits for Metal Railings (level or stair)

CableRail® Kits by Feeney are an attractive, affordable, and easy-to-install railing infill alternative for metal railings. The cable and components are low maintenance and visually unobtrusive; perfect for decks with beautiful landscape settings or panoramic views, as well as open interior spaces.

The included Quick-Connect® Inset fitting features patented one-way jaws that allow the cable to easily slide though in one direction, but automatically grab and lock on when the cable is released. Just slip it on, pull the cable taut and cut off the excess; no special tools are needed. This fitting not only makes installation a breeze, but also offers exceptional beauty, strength, and corrosion resistance.

Application and Use in Construction

Exterior / Outdoor

Type of Material

Stainless Steel

DesignRail® Aluminum Railing Kits | Feeney

 

• Use

  Railing frame system

• Applications

  Commercial and residential

• Characteristics

  Pre-drilled posts and pickets to support 1/8-in. CableRail by Feeney stainless steel cables (sold separately).

More about this product

Feeney DesignRail® Aluminum Railing Kits are a great solution for customers looking for a fast and easy way to install high quality exterior or interior aluminum railings with CableRail.

Feeney DesignRail® pre-engineered, component based, aluminum railing frame systems combine the durability of aluminum with the innovative design details that assure structural integrity while drastically reducing long term maintenance expenses. Our systems are easy-to- install, attractive and cost effective.

Characteristic

• Engineered for easy installation using components that snap and screw together.
• CableRail Ready: Pre-drilled posts and pickets to support 1/8-in. CableRail by Feeney stainless steel cables (sold separately).
• Made of high quality 6000 series aluminum extrusions with AAMA­2604 powder­-coated finishes for long lasting beauty and performance.
• Available for both 36­in. and 42­in. level railings and 36­in. stair railings.
  

Your railing system will require specific quantities and types of kits and parts depending on the configuration of your project.

Post Kits

Each Post Kit includes a post with a pre-attached base plate, a post cap, and mounting screws with caps. All posts come pre-drilled for the cable fittings or cables to pass through, and can accommodate isolation bushings when required. Stair posts are pre-drilled at an angle to accommodate a stair slope of between 29 and 34 degrees. Level Post Kits are available for railings in two heights: 36-in with 9 cable holes, or 42-in with 11 cable holes. Stair Post Kits are available for 36-in stair railings. Isolation bushings are recommended for installations in harsher climates, such as areas near salt water.

Rail Kits

Rail Kits contain the rails that run between the posts. Each kit includes a 6-ft top and bottom rail, a pre-drilled intermediate picket, and all necessary attachment hardware. Top and bottom rails can be trimmed to exact length in the field. Use Rail Cut Kits if cutting a single Rail Kit for use in multiple smaller sections. Rail Kits can be used with DesignRail® Post Kits or between your own wood posts.

Type of Material

Aluminum

Backyard Cabin Experiments With 3D-Printed Tiles as a Facade Material

The cabin is integrated into the landscape thanks to the hundreds of succulents and air plants that comprise the facade and are held by the 3D-printed hexagonal planter tiles. 3D-printed chairs and tables, also designed by Emerging Objects, serve as both indoor and outdoor furniture. Image © Matthew Millman

This article was originally published by The Architect’s Newspaper as “Cutting-edge 3-D-printing pushes construction boundaries in an Oakland cabin.”

The 3D-printed Cabin of Curiosities is a research endeavor and “proof of concept” investigation into the architectural possibilities of upcycling and custom 3D-printed claddings as a response to 21st-century housing needs.

This exploratory project is an output of Bay Area-based additive manufacturing startup Emerging Objects, founded by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, who are professors at the University of California Berkeley and San Jose State University, respectively. They also co-founded the architecture studio Rael San Fratello, whose work primarily focuses on architecture as a cultural endeavor.

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A corner detail shows 3D-printed ceramic “seed stitch” tiles overlapping on the facade corner. The “planter tiles,” which hold succulents and air plants, face forward. Image © Matthew Millman

The Cabin of Curiosities is exemplary of Emerging Objects’ work, which dives deep into the material science of additive manufacturing while utilizing open-source tools and standard off-the-shelf printers.

Due to a housing emergency in the Bay Area, the Oakland City Council eased restrictions on the construction of secondary housing units, or backyard cottages. The new rules promote more rental housing by easing parking requirements, allowing homeowners to transform existing backyard buildings like sheds and garages into living spaces, and relaxing height and setback requirements.

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Color variation is achieved using different upcycled and innovative 3D-printable materials invented by Emerging Objects, including recycled chardonnay grape skins from Sonoma, cement, sawdust, and coffee grounds. Image © Matthew Millman

Thusly located in a residential backyard, the one-room gabled structure brings together a collection of performative tile products, from interior translucent glowing wall assemblies to exterior rain screens composed of integrated succulent planters and textural “shingles” that push the boundaries of how quickly one can mass produce 3D-printed architectural components.

Over 4,500 3D-printed ceramic tiles clad the exterior of the building. The firm is committed to focusing on upcycling agricultural and industrial waste products, and at times its custom materials sound more like tasting notes from a nearby Napa or Sonoma wine. Grape skins, salt, cement, and sawdust, among others, have been integrated into Emerging Objects’ products to create variety among the tiles.

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Over 4,500 3D-printed ceramic tiles clad the majority of the building. The calibrated inconsistencies and material behavior make each tile unique. Ever changing shadows transform the cabin’s surface throughout the day as each seed stitch tile is gently curved to receive the sun and cast shadows. Image © Matthew Millman

The project integrates two types of tiles on the exterior: a “planter” tile on the gable ends, and a shingled “seed stitch” tile wrapping the side walls and roof. The planter tiles offer 3D-printed ceramic shapes that include pockets for vegetation to grow. The seed stitch tiles, borrowing from knitting terminology, are produced through a deliberately rapid printing process that utilizes G-code processing to control each line of clay for a more “handmade” aesthetic. No two tiles are the same, offering unique shadow lines across the facade.

The cabin interior features translucent white Chroma Curl wall tiles, made of a bio-based plastic derived from corn. These tiles offer a customized relief texture inspired by the tradition of pressed metal ceilings, which historically relied on mass production through mold-making.

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The interior displays 3D printed curiosities, from ceramic vessels, material experiments, and studies. Color changing LED lights, which illuminate the interior through the 3D-printed bio-plastic interior cladding, set a playful mood. 3D-printed furniture and accessories include a pink Picoroco Lamp, coffee table, Coffee-Coffee kettle and cup, and a chair. Image © Matthew Millman

It might be too soon to tell, but the 3D-Printed Cabin might be our generation’s version of Muuratsalo, Alvar Aalto’s classic house circa 1953 experimenting with textured material and architectural form through its construction. “We’re building this from our kitchen table, printing parts and testing solutions in real time,” said San Fratello.

The cabin is a departure from other investigations in 3D-printed dwellings, many of which are unlivable and not aesthetically considered. “These are not just investigations into testing materials for longevity or for structure, but also a study of aesthetics. We see the future as being elegant, optimistic, and beautiful,” said Rael.

Nuvola Acoustical Free Hanging Clouds | Decoustics

 

• Use

  Interior ceilings

• Applications

  Airports, arenas, hospitals, restaurants, universities, offices, lobbies, auditoriums, hotels

• Characteristics

  Panels are finished on all faces, can be installed individually to identify a space or grouped together to create unique configurations, they use a unique anchor hanger and spiral spring to ease installation, shapes and clouds can be custom color matched to any paint chip

Modular Eco-Housing Pushing Boundaries With Cardboard

Wikkelhouse Dordrech. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Witte

Designed and developed by Fiction Factory, a company of creative makers from Amsterdam, Wikkelhouse loosely translates to ‘wrapped house.’ This sustainable modular house is uniquely created with cardboard as its main building material and is customizable in its size and function.

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Diagram of Modular System. Image Courtesy of Fiction Factory

The Wikkelhouse is built from 24 layers of top-quality cardboard wound around a rotating house-shaped mould. These layers are then bonded with an eco-friendly superglue to create durability and optimal insulation. This is where the name Wikkelhouse comes from, as ‘wikkelen’ is the Dutch word for ‘wrapping.’ The house is then finished with waterproof foil and wood-paneling to protect it from the elements.

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House Mould Machine. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Witte

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Layers of Cardboard. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Witte

The materials used in the Wikkelhouse have a low impact on the environment, being 3 times more environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly than a traditional house. The Wikkelhouse is also 100% recyclable, with each part able to be deconstructed and recycled infinitely. It does not require a foundation as each segment weighs only 500 kilograms.

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Wikkelhouse Dordrech. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Witte

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Wikkelhouse. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Witte

Made from 4.6m long x 1.2m wide x 3.5m high segments, the modular house can be extended and added to as needed. With their smart ‘Home’-segments, the Wikkelhouse can also include a kitchen, bathroom, and shower, as well as customizable window placement and finishing.

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Living Room. Photo Courtesy of Yvonne Witte

Built in a workshop in Amsterdam, the Wikkelhouse can be transported and connected on site in a day. At the moment, they are only available for construction in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, the U.K., and Denmark.

More information on the Wikkelhouse can be found on their website and in their video below: